Glycemic Foods Index

It sounds like a very technical concept but it’s not really. The Glycemic Foods Index (GI) is essentially just a way to rate carbohydrates and sort the good from the bad. And, it’s a very effective way of doing so. The Glycemic Foods Index ranks all the different type of carbohydrate foods in an orderly fashion according to how they affect our blood glucose levels. The Glycemic food index uses a rank from zero to one hundred. Foods ranked fifty-five and above are considered to be foods that cause a rapid released of glucose into the blood stream and are considered the foods to stay away from. Pure glucose serves as a reference point and is appointed a value of one hundred on the Glycemic index.

Your body performs best when you have a fairly regulated blood sugar level. A rise in blood sugar levels (especially a rapid rise) causes your brain to communicate with your pancreas and tells it to release more insulin. Insulin is the little thing in our body that brings out blood sugars back to a normal level and also converts any sugar that is resting in your system into fat. If you consume too much sugar in one hit, the rapid rise in blood sugar levels could alert your pancreas to release too much insulin and then your blood sugar will be pushed back down too low. Low blood sugar levels will result in your feel tired and lethargic and will leave you with an increased appetite, prompting you to unnecessarily reach for more food. What a vicious cycle!

It’s the low GI foods that you want to be eating. Low GI foods release the sugars into your system gradually, instead of all at once. This not only gives your body a chance to utilize them properly, but will avoid the ghastly situation explained above. And, just because it’s low GI doesn’t make it a tasteless health food. You would be surprised at the kinds of foods that are ranked as low GI containing foods. Milo is ranked thirty-five on the Glycemic Index, which makes it a substantially low GI containing food and a great snack! Some brands of ice cream rank about thirty-eight, which is most surprising, but excellent news for ice cream lovers!

Some foods that we all thought were better choices actually prove not to be when it comes to measuring up on the Glycemic Index. Take rye bread for example, sounds much better for you than white bread but measures up in the high seventies, sitting right alongside the doughnut! Who would have thought!

Nutritionists used to believe that complex carbohydrates were always better for you than the more simple ones (which are released into the system instantaneously) but the Glycemic Foods Index has altered their view. While it is true that the majority of sweet and sugary foods do rank high on the index, foods such as breads and potatoes rank higher than honey and table sugar!